Lady Smith

[James C. Kelly]

Back in the early 70’s I was hired by a police department and the chief had a Lady Smith he used as a paper weight. It had a pin down the barrel and into the cylinder. I asked how he came to have a Lady Smith. He was surprised to have anyone know what it was so I gave him a brief history of the gun. He was going to retire in a matter of months and said that when he left he would give it to me. He explained that a fisherman cast a daredevil lure above the dam in the river and snagged it. He brought it to the police department and turned it in. The Chief took it to a local business that manufactured car parts and they agreed to chrome plate the gun after it was made non-functional with the pin. The gun is a 5 screw and the serial number is 25956. It has mother of pearl grips.
Can anyone tell me the date of manufacture?

 

[Hondo44]

Hi James,

That's an interesting provenance...until at least, it took the trip to the car parts maker. Depending on how long it spent underwater, it may not of mattered.

It's a third model out of three that were made. And by the # likely made in 1921, the last year of production.

So did you get it and if so, is it still non-functional?

The MOP (Mother of Pearl) grips are probably still valuable since underwater is their natural habitat. Do they have gold medallions near the top? If so they're most likely factory original.